Good picture from ewest as examples of one year old LMB. I see the same size differences of yellow perch as one year olds from the same pond. It is a natural process of growth variability. This amount of size variation is due to several things. A. Food sizes availability as they grow, B. Natural genetic growth variation among members of the same hatching, C. Predation aggressiveness differences among individuals of a stocked group, D. Male vs female growth rates.
Size differences are often used as a basis for early harvest of sub-par individuals. Especially when dealing with the original stocked fish, keep the biggest ones, remove the smaller sizes. Note the most aggressive ones are likely the most frequent ones that are first caught by angling. Passive ones sometimes are not the initial size group that are caught by anglers.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/04/25 07:52 PM.
